


Four Years and One Week

by Honeysworks



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Coming Out, Crushes, Cute Ending, Fluff and Angst, Gay Character, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-06-30 18:11:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15757044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honeysworks/pseuds/Honeysworks
Summary: Original Prompt:Scorpius gets sent off to durmstrang after y3 with no explanation, albus is reallly sad his friend is gone, y7 starts and scorpius is suddently back, and puberty did him goooodFor Scorbus Fest 2018





	Four Years and One Week

Albus’ eyes desperately scanned the crowds gathered around the Hogwarts express. Despite the number of people moving around and the heavy steam which seemed to cling to the crowd like a dense fog, the Malfoy family’s bright blond hair would make them stand out wherever they went.

It was for this reason, then, that Albus was so troubled when he couldn’t spot them anywhere.

Tardiness was so unlike Scorpius, who was faultlessly punctual and always excited enough at the prospect of attending Hogwarts to arrive early to board the train. Well, that, plus he liked to turn up early to avoid the other students who would otherwise make fun of him, and Albus knew Scorpius didn’t want his parents to witness that. After three years, apparently the jokes about him being the son of Voldemort hadn’t gotten old to some of Hogwarts’ population.

As the whistle signalling two minutes to departure sounded, Albus started to panic just a little bit. Without Scorpius, Albus had no idea how he would have managed to survive his first three years at school, and he could hardly bare the thought of getting on the train without him.

After saying goodbye to his parents, he begrudgingly went to find an empty compartment. Perhaps Scorpius was already on the train, Albus reasoned to himself, and if that were the case, surely he would have the sense to come and find Albus eventually. Sitting alone, watching as King’s Cross slowly faded in the distance out of the window, Albus waited.

It was not until the train had left London entirely that Albus heard tapping on glass. He looked excitedly to the compartment door, but found nobody there. Sinking back into his seat, he spotted a brown shape darting in and out of view alongside the train window, and Albus was almost certain he knew what it was. Opening the window, Scorpius’ pet owl flew in, depositing a letter onto the seat next to him. Albus hastily snatched it up, ignoring the bird’s bid for attention. The handwriting was definitely Scorpius’, but it seemed rushed, with bits scribbled out and blotches of ink everywhere.

_Albus,_

_I hope this letter reaches you quickly, and I’m truly sorry I could not write this sooner. These past few days have been... difficult. As you know I was due to return to Hogwarts with you, but Dad… he started asking about school. I told him about some of the more unsavoury characters in our house, and perhaps I should not have. I know they pick on us lot, but I didn’t think my parents would react how they did. There’s no easy way to say this, but father is pulling me out of Hogwarts. I tried to argue with him, I really did, I told him you were my best friend and I did not want to leave you behind, but he would have none of it. I’m really really sorry Albus, but I’m being transferred to Durmstrang today._

_Please don’t hate me._

_Your best friend always,_

_Scorpius_

Albus was heartbroken. On some level, he understood why Scorpius’ father had done what he had done. The way Scorpius had suffered bullying the past few years, despite how much he had tried to cover it with smiles and jokes, must have taken its toll on him. On the other hand, Albus was devastated. His best (and much to Albus’ parent’s disapproval, his only) friend was not coming back.

Albus spent the rest of the train ride, as well as much of dinner, mulling over his thoughts. With Scorpius gone, he would be truly alone now. Sitting at the Slytherin table, he glanced at his fellow fourth years. They didn’t even seem to have noticed the lack of a certain blond, too busy in their own conversations and social circles to care. Looking down at the first years, he thought they were probably too young to want to be friends with a fourth year. Everyone else had already made their friend groups they would stick to until the end of their schooling. He felt like a bit on an outcast, even his own family were all in Gryffindor, so it wasn’t like he had someone to talk to. Still, it couldn’t be too bad. At least he could still owl Scorpius regularly, and who knows, he might even be allowed to transfer back to Hogwarts soon enough.

 

As it turned out, Scorpius did not return to Hogwarts anytime during the first term, or anytime after the Christmas Holiday, though they did continue writing to each other a lot. Scorpius was apparently settling in well at Durmstrang, even if he didn’t want to be there, and he would geek out over the long and storied history of the school in his letters. Albus didn’t really know what he was talking about sometimes, but he still found it endearing how Scorpius could write so much about something he found interesting.

For a while, his letters from Scorpius were the most social interaction he was getting. Without Scorpius, the bullies who had picked on them in their first three years had lost interest in him. Albus didn’t know if they were just looking to pick on Scorpius and he became a target by proxy, but either way, they stopped bothering him for the most part. Occasionally, he would still receive the occasional snide remark of ‘Slytherin Squib.’ He found classes hard in general, but without Scorpius helping him study, his already precarious grades started crumbling.

 

When Albus returned home for the summer after his fourth year, his school performance had caused contention between himself and his father. Apparently one of his professors had spoken to Harry recently, and had raised concern about Albus’ poor grades and lack of social behaviour. His Dad didn’t seemed to understand why Albus was struggling, telling him _it was easy_ and that he _just had to make some friends_. After being chided for what felt like the hundredth time, Albus spent most of the summer avoiding his family, staying in his room as much as possible. He felt like Scorpius was the only person he could confide in, asking his friend for study advice. He decided even though Scorpius would not be joining him again for fifth year, he could at least study hard and try to do well on his O.W.Ls.

With his (admittedly abundant) free time, Albus spent most of it pouring over revision materials. Even without his bookish friend, Albus still found himself spending a lot of time in the library, the place just seemed to remind him of Scorpius, as it was probably his favourite place in all of Hogwarts.

 

The next summer, when his O.W.L results came by post, Albus had actually managed to exceed his own expectations. He was by no means the highest scorer in his classes, but he had managed to not fail anything. His parents, it seemed, were content by this as well, as they stopped nagging him for the most part. The best part was excitedly telling Scorpius of his results, and from his letters Scorpius seemed genuinely pleased for him. Scorpius had even suggested that they meet up over summer, but their combined schedules didn’t allow for it, what with Albus going to stay with his extended family in the burrow, and then Scorpius going to visit his Grandparents.

At the burrow, life was chaotic. The sheer number of people coming and going meant Albus constantly felt like he was in someone’s way, and he didn’t even have his room to retreat to, having to share a Hugo’s bedroom with his brother James and his cousin Fred. Combined, the three of them were probably the biggest troublemakers in Gryffindor, and indeed all of Hogwarts, which meant that naturally, the target and scapegoat for all of their pranks would be poor Slytherin Albus. He hadn’t found the time to write to Scorpius all week, but when he finally did, he hadn’t been very happy. Scorpius, who had grown up without and siblings or cousins, was shocked that Albus’ own family could be so mean to him.

At least one productive thing had come out of the week, as he was able to ask his aunt Hermione for a copy of a rare book from the Ministry’s collection, which he planned to give to Scorpius for his birthday that year.

 

As Albus started his sixth year, Scorpius had been very busy with his own studies, and had less time to write to him. Albus didn’t particularly mind, he would rather Scorpius do well in his tests at Durmstrang, and the letters he did get were fairly benign in their news, nothing out of the ordinary, until Scorpius’ birthday itself. Albus had sent off his present in the early morning, and by midday Albus had gotten a response back. The bulk of the letter was Scorpius thanking him, as well as detailing what else he had gotten as gifts, when at the very bottom of the letter, Scorpius had written something that made Albus grin wider than he had in a very, very long time.

_P.S. Don’t get your hopes up, but I think Dad is thinking about letting me come back to Hogwarts for our seventh year._

_Lots of Love,_

_Scorpius_

Albus was so excited at this news that he almost didn’t notice Scorpius had signed his letter with ‘lots of love,’ which is something he didn’t usually do. Albus assumed he just made a mistake and thought he was talking to his parents, picturing in his the way Scorpius would frantically scrawl out his letters in an excited ramble rather than take time to think them through.

 

It wasn’t until the summer before seventh year when Scorpius finally told him that he would definitely be coming back to Hogwarts for his final year of school. Apparently his dad had been reluctant to let him return, but Scorpius had managed to convince him by reminding him that he would be closer to his family if he stayed in the country this year.

Albus had been overjoyed at the news when the letter came for him one morning whilst sat at the kitchen table, prompting his mother to ask why he was in such a good mood. After mentioning that Scorpius would be returning to Hogwarts, his parents became suspicious. They didn’t trust the Malfoy family, not after the events of the war, and had long been suspicious of the friendship between their sons. Despite Albus’ reassurances that Scorpius was a kind boy, he couldn’t help but think his parents were secretly relieved when Scorpius moved away after their third year.

Still, Albus didn’t particularly care what they thought, as he excitedly counted down the days left until the first of September. This was the first time in years that he had actually been looking forwards to going back to Hogwarts.

 

September rolled around quickly, and before Albus knew it he was standing on platform 9 and ¾ again. They had been running slightly late, owing to his sister Lily, who had still been packing her suitcase 10 minuets after they were supposed to be leaving. When they finally arrived at King’s Cross, Albus very quickly spotted Draco Malfoy, who was stood on the platform, waving to someone already on the train – Scorpius, no doubt.

After saying goodbye to his parents, as well as only just managing to not miss the train, Albus made his way up to the compartment where he knew Scorpius would be. He remembered back to their first year where he and his cousin Rose had found a nervous looking Scorpius sitting alone in an empty compartment.

This time, however, Scorpius had a much more at ease with himself, flicking casually through a book perched in his lap, not noticing Albus stood by the door.

Opening the door to the compartment seemed to alert Scorpius to his presence, who looked up at him curiously for half a second, before a massive grin spread across his face, and Albus couldn’t help but do the same. Scorpius stood up made his way over to Albus.

“Hi,” he said, rocking excitedly on the balls of his feet. Albus noticed he had to look up a bit- they both used to be the same height, but Scorpius had gained a few inches on him over the past few years.

“Hi,” Albus replied, before they both broke out in giggles, feeling as though they had spent only three hours apart instead of three years.

Scorpius hesitated for a second, as though he was internally debating with himself, before leaning forwards and encircling Albus in a big hug. Albus stiffened a little against his touch, not really used to being touched, but quickly relaxed into Scorpius’ embrace. He still felt a little awkward, not really sure what he was meant to do with his arms, but before he knew it Scorpius had released him.

“I’ve missed you a lot. Durmstrang students are too serious and a bit stuffy for me, I’ve had nobody to stay up ‘til midnight with eating sweets,” Scorpius began, and Albus was relieved to see he hadn’t changed too drastically since he was thirteen.

As they settled into the journey, Scorpius began telling Albus all about his past three years. Of course, he mentioned most of it in his letters as well, but hearing Scorpius describe things in person was so much better. Albus was glad to find he was still the kind-hearted, book-loving, sugar-devouring boy who wasn’t capable of telling a story without wildly flailing his arms everywhere for emphasis.

Although, he had changed in some ways physically. Back then, Scorpius always held himself awkwardly, with long limbs he never knew what to do with and shoulders that hunched over in an attempt to seem as small as possible. Now, he had a much more relaxed demeanour. His legs were still long and slender, but his torso had filled out proportionally, with wide shoulders which tapered into a narrow waist, and Albus couldn’t help but notice he was remarkably lean for someone whose lifelong ambition was to live in a sweetshop. He still had the same kind eyes and a wide smile, but he had grown out of his cherubic baby-face which gave way to prominent cheekbones and a defined jawline. He still had the distinctive pale-blond hair that all Malfoy men seemed to carry, but he wore it shorter than he used to, complimenting his face.

 

“I feel like I’ve been talking about myself for too long, you’re probably getting sick of it, huh?”

Albus had been more than happy to sit and listen to Scorpius talk about his life all day, it gave him an excuse to stare at his face at least. “No, I don’t mind, your life seems a lot more interesting than mine.”

“Really? I’m sure that’s not true. Did you do anything exciting over the summer?” Scorpius asked, curiously.

“No. Believe me, being in the famous Potter family is a lot more dull than you might think.”

“Ah, so you haven’t got a secret girlfriend you’ve been seeing and haven’t told me about?”

Albus could tell Scorpius was joking, but it seemed a little off-beat. He wasn’t usually the type to be talking about girls. Maybe he had changed more than Albus thought. “I don’t think that would ever happen, most people at Hogwarts tend to avoid me," he replied with a wry smile, eyes meeting Scorpius’ for a moment.

“Good. I mean, uh, _not-_ good. I mean, erm, not that there’s anything wrong not having a girlfriend, it’s not- _not-_ good, more neutral, ah, damnit, you know what I mean,” Scorpius flustered over his choice of words, it seemed his mouth still went faster than his brain sometimes, so Albus decided to interject before he could embarrass himself.

“Scorpius, it’s fine," he reassured his friend, who promptly stopped babbling. There was an awkward pause in the conversation, which Albus hastily tried to fill. "I'm assuming you don't have a girlfriend either?"

Scorpius looked at him curiously for a moment before speaking, "No, I don’t. Mainly because I, uh, like boys instead. I- I'm gay, Albus,” Scorpius said the last part in a quite voice, as though he was almost afraid of getting a reaction from it.

Albus could tell Scorpius was searching his face for a reaction, so he tried to muster his gentlest smile for him. “I’m glad you told me something important,” he replied, and Scorpius grinned warmly back at him.

“You’re the first person outside of my family that I’ve come out to. Still feels weird saying it,” Scorpius began, looking out of the train window absentmindedly.

“How long have you known..?” Albus’ voice was hesitant as he asked, as though he felt like he was overstepping a boundary, but Scorpius just shrugged and answered his question.

“A few years. Never been out with a boy though, most of them at Durmstrang either looked like, sounded like, or acted like trolls,” Scorpius did a mock shudder as though thinking about the prospect of dating one of them, to which Albus giggled.

 

They spent the rest of the train journey in comfortable conversation, laughing and eating sweets until they had ruined their appetite for dinner, which itself was uneventful affair. A few people started whispering amongst themselves when they noticed Scorpius sitting at the Slytherin table, but nothing came of it, and before long they found themselves back in the Slytherin boy’s dormitories once more.

“Hey, it looks like they put my bed next to yours again,” Albus noticed excitedly, spotting Scorpius’ trunk at the foot of the bed adjacent to his own.

“It really does feel like I haven't even been gone a day,” Scorpius mused out loud, pulling several items out of his own trunk. “I can’t wait for classes to start tomorrow, though. I wonder what we’ll have first?”

“I bet you’re just looking forward to showing off how clever you are,” Albus rolled his eyes, “you’re such a nerd.”

“Well I’m _your_ nerd, so deal with it-” Scorpius gave Albus a faux-evil grin, “-unless you want to do your own homework.”

“No! Anything but that,” Albus pleaded, before they both burst out laughing.

“But seriously though, I’m quite tired, I’m going to get ready for bed,” said Scorpius, as he disappeared into the bathroom.

Albus pulled his own green pyjamas out of his trunk and changed into them, before Scorpius reappeared, clad in nothing but a pair of grey pyjama bottoms.

Albus couldn’t help but blush as he glanced over to Scorpius, who walked over nonchalantly with his bare chest exposed. Albus wasn’t exactly sure why he was avoiding Scorpius’ gaze, he’d seen Scorpius plenty of times without a shirt on when they were younger, but this time he felt different for some reason. Scorpius was 17 now, soon to be 18, and he was no longer boyish in appearance. He certainly still looked young, no doubt about that, but his pale body was lean and toned as though sculpted from marble.

Albus was snapped out of his own thoughts when Scorpius placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

“Hey… I just wanted to say thank you. If you hadn’t stayed in touch with me these past few years I’d be all by myself when I came back here. Being with you today has really reminded me how much I missed having a friend.”

“Me too, I’d almost forgotten what it was like having you around."

Albus looked up at Scorpius, who leaned in and took him into another embrace. This time, Albus wrapped his hands around his friend and relaxed into the hug. He noticed how warm Scorpius felt, it made Albus feel butterflies inside. He didn’t know why, perhaps it was because he wasn’t used to being this close to someone, but he didn’t exactly mind it. After a moment, they parted from the hug and climbed into their beds.

“Good night, Albus,” Scorpius said, drawing the curtains closed around his four poster.

“G’night,” Albus replied from behind his own. As he lay there, trying to sleep, his mind kept replaying the day’s events over in his mind. He was excited Scorpius was back, but at the same time also a bit nervous. He knew he had no reason to be, but now that he finally had his best friend back, he really didn’t know what he would do if he lost him again. Before long though Albus found himself drifting off to sleep, somewhere in the back of his mind registering that his last thought had been of Scorpius’ smiling face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Awww Albus has a crush on Scorpius~~
> 
>  
> 
> I really wasn't sure which prompt I wanted to pick but this ended up being an excuse for me to write Albus realising Scorpius is boyfriend material lol. I'm not 100% happy with how this turned out but I've already written it so I may as well post it. Oh, and this fic will have three chapters to it.


End file.
